Chapter 20
“The videos. I summarized some experiences from the videos. Maybe they’ll be useful.” Ye Xuan opened the screen and was just about to talk endlessly with Xia Chenxi.
Xia Chenxi grabbed Ye Xuan’s wrist, stopping his movement, then pointed toward the kitchen.
“Thanks to you, the food burned.”
Ye Xuan scratched his head. “I was too impatient.”
Xia Chenxi poured the burnt dish into the trash can and prepared another one.
Tonight’s dinner was three dishes and one soup. From just now, Ye Xuan had felt extremely hungry, so hungry he wanted to eat the plates on the dining table too.
He ate five bowls of rice and swept the dishes on the table clean before finally letting out a satisfied burp.
After realizing that his appetite tonight was as big as an ox’s, Ye Xuan straightened up and observed Xia Chenxi’s expression across from him.
“Stop looking. I’m not going to say anything. Your metabolism has sped up. It’s normal to be hungry.”
Although Xia Chenxi said that, Ye Xuan still felt bad. He washed the dishes and cleaned the entire room. Only after there was nothing left to do did he finally sit down beside Xia Chenxi.
“You were so hardworking tonight. I almost thought the river snail girl possessed you,” Xia Chenxi teased him.
Ye Xuan thought about it and replied, “Not a river snail girl. A river snail guy.”
“Heh.”
“Now you can discuss the videos with me.”
When the videos were brought up, Ye Xuan immediately became energetic. He pulled up one of the videos and analyzed it with Xia Chenxi.
“Look at this space ability user. Before floating into the air, he was attacked by a zombie and was only a little bit away from being grabbed. And this psychic ability user was the same. Then look at this fire ability user… All of them awakened their abilities when they were about to suffer unavoidable harm.”
Xia Chenxi did not immediately agree with Ye Xuan’s words.
He asked Ye Xuan, “Then what about that berserk ability user? When he was beating you, did you cause him unavoidable harm?”
Ye Xuan was stumped. That did not seem to be the case.
Quan Guanxi had suddenly awakened his ability while beating him.
“So your conclusion doesn’t apply to everyone.”
“Xia Chenxi, then how did your ability awaken?”
“I wanted to bite you. At that time, there was only one thought in my mind: bite you. Then the door was blocking me, and my thought at that moment was to tear down the door in front of me.”
Ye Xuan deflated and leaned back against the sofa. He had thought he had found a pattern, but reality was not what he imagined. Were abilities really appearing at random?
“There’s no conclusion yet, and you’re already planning to give up?” Xia Chenxi rested one hand on the sofa and leaned back. “You also feel there’s some connection in the unseen, but you don’t know what kind of connection it is.”
“Isn’t that obvious? Based on the information we currently have, isn’t the emergence of abilities completely random? It has nothing to do with age or time.”
“Mm. I agree that it has nothing to do with age or time. But completely random? I don’t dare agree. Even lottery jackpots have patterns to follow. It can’t be completely random.”
Ye Xuan moved closer to Xia Chenxi. “Then tell me. What pattern is there?”
Xia Chenxi pulled up the videos and slowed down the playback speed.
“Look carefully at their expressions.”
Xia Chenxi and Ye Xuan watched the videos one by one, analyzing them frame by frame.
“Did you notice anything?”
“They all seem very tense.”
“Exactly. That means before awakening their abilities, their minds were all in a highly strained state. Connecting that with my own situation at the time, my mind only wanted to bite you, but the door was stopping me. My thought then was to remove the door in front of me.”
“You’re trying to tell me that before awakening an ability, one’s mind has to be highly focused?”
After saying so much, Xia Chenxi finally showed a hint of satisfaction.
“You could’ve just told me directly. You just enjoy watching me embarrass myself.”
“I’m not trying to watch you embarrass yourself. I’m afraid your brain won’t be enough and you’ll trap yourself.” As he spoke, Xia Chenxi tapped his own head with a finger.
“Hey, Xia Chenxi.” Ye Xuan punched Xia Chenxi’s shoulder. To Xia Chenxi, the punch was like a kitten scratching an itch, while Ye Xuan himself felt as if he had punched a rock, making his hand ache.
“Alright. I’ve already told you the method. The rest depends on you. I don’t want to see you at the mining site when I’m out on a mission.”
“Xia Chenxi, shut your crow mouth.”
Xia Chenxi made a zipper-pulling gesture across his lips.
The next day, the injuries on Ye Xuan’s body had completely healed, but he did not plan to return to the training field. Since Xie Yan had given him two days of leave, he should properly cherish these hard-earned days off.
Besides, he was currently in the spotlight and should avoid the edge of the storm.
Ye Xuan chose to go to the hospital to find Xie Yan. There were some things he needed to ask clearly.
After arriving at the hospital, Ye Xuan was told that since Xie Yan was a special-grade researcher, he had to make an appointment in advance if he wanted to see him.
Had he come all this way for nothing today? Ye Xuan put one hand in his pocket and was about to leave the hospital when someone behind him called out to him.
“Hey, brat. You came to the hospital and didn’t come see your lifesaver?” With that annoying tone, it could only be Xie Yan.
“You’re a high and mighty special-grade researcher. How could a reserve combat team member like me dare to climb up to your level?” Ye Xuan mocked.
“Did you eat firecrackers today, brat?”
Xie Yan put an arm around Ye Xuan and said to the nurse at the front desk, “If this brat comes looking for me in the future, just take him directly to the entrance of my research room to wait for me.”
“Yes.”
Xie Yan slung an arm around Ye Xuan and went up to the twelfth floor.
“What wind blew you here today, brat?”
“Weren’t you the one who told me to come change my dressing every day?” Ye Xuan pulled Xie Yan’s hand off his shoulder.
“Your injuries are all healed. What dressing is there to change?” His tone was not surprised, as if Ye Xuan’s wounds healing was within Xie Yan’s expectations.
“You’re not even pretending in front of me anymore, are you?”
Xie Yan clutched his chest in heartbreak. “That brat Xia Chenxi is smart. I knew sooner or later I wouldn’t be able to hide it from you two. But I didn’t lie to you either. I really am just a base worker. The base was the one who told me to pay close attention to you.”
Xie Yan’s disguise was too good. It was hard to guess how much of what he said was true and how much was false.
“How much does the base value me?”
“At present, you’re very important. But you have to understand that the base doesn’t support freeloaders. Being abandoned by the base has far more serious consequences than never being valued by the base in the first place.” Xie Yan covered his mouth and whispered, “That’s all I’ll say. Even if you keep asking, I won’t say more.”
Ye Xuan had come to Xie Yan today because he wanted to understand the base’s intentions through him. From the looks of it, at least for now, he still had considerable value in the eyes of the higher-ups.
Did Xie Yan’s last sentence count as a threat?
Would the consequences of being abandoned by the base include his parents?
Ye Xuan clenched his fists.
“Stop overthinking. You only need to be clear about your current goal and work toward it. Sometimes, thinking too much will only interfere with yourself.”
Xie Yan pushed Ye Xuan toward the examination room.
“What are you doing?”
“Since you’re already here, might as well do a physical examination. Let me check the levels of the two R Viruses in your body.”
